So perhaps you're thinking, I should go into business for myself.But you're also wondering, I don't have money, Dave, how do I do this?Well, I want to talk to you about some things that you might be ableto do, to start a small business with little or perhaps no money at all.The first thing is a service-based business.Now, if you try to start a product-basedbusiness, where you're manufacturing something, that's very difficultto start with no money because you haveinventory costs, and production costs, and parts costs.

Now, if you start a service-based business,where it's you selling your services, or evenselling the services of someone else, it's much, much easier to start with no money.So I'd recommend, if that's your position,to focus your thoughts on service-based businesses.Number two is to begin in an industry that you know and love.Now, this is good recommendation even if you have lots of money, but it's evenharder, if you have no money, to startin some industry where you have no experience.

On the other side, if you alreadyunderstand everything about that industry, if you'vebeen working in it for several years, your costs are going to be lower.Rather than having to invest time and money into research andgetting to know the industry, you'll be able to jump right in.Number three is freelancing.Now freelancing is a way of doing small workhere and there, as you are building your business.Think of it like an apprenticeship.An apprenticeship is where someone practiced their skills andworked for someone else as they developed their abilities.

That's how freelancing is in my mind.And you can go to various sites andfreelance your skills out to other people, asyou're developing your abilities, and getting more confidence,to make the leap to a full time business.Number four is sell what you don't have.Now, that may seem a little strange.What I mean is that you're selling a serviceto someone before you actually have it ready to deliver.Sound scary?It actually works quite well.I did this in my business where I sold a timemanagement training program to people before I had fully developed the program.

This not only gave me money upfront, but gave metime and extra motivation to complete the process, works very well.And number five is to work for free.Again, that sounds strange, but when youconsider starting a business, even a service basedbusiness, marketing and advertising costs can beone of the biggest expenses in the beginning.If you work for free, for someone whois highly networked, someone in your area who everyoneknows, you'll be able to get lots ofreferrals very quickly which saves you on marketing costs.

You can go to that person and say, I'm going to deliver my productto you and you're going to give me lots of referrals if you love it.Do you agree to that?And if they do agree to that, that's agreat way to grow your customer base very quickly.Again, this is a strategy that I used early on in my coaching career.Hopefully, these tips will give you a little more confidence to beginthe process as an entrepreneur, even if you don't have a dime.

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3/31/2015

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4/15/2014

Are you thinking about starting a small business, freelancing, or turning a hobby into a full-time job? Or perhaps you're already running your own business and need some inspiration to take it to the next level. Each week, join small business coach Dave Crenshaw for two short lessons that reveal the secrets of running a successful small business. This series covers topics such as getting started, writing a business plan, determining your most valuable product or service, hiring people, managing processes, documenting systems, bootstrapping, seeking funding, accounting, controlling costs and profit margins, marketing, creating culture, and more.